New Places
by ClaireBouldwin
Summary: Hermione moves into a new apartment at Harry's suggestion. But what surprises will await her there, and how will she handle them? OOC, rated M for later Dramione goodness.
1. Moving Out

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading this, it's my first fanfiction. I'm not really writing with a plot in mind, but please stay with me to see where this goes! **

* * *

><p>Hermione glanced at the clock hanging on the baby-blue wall of her room. As a witch who was now free from the Ministry's trace, she could've done anything she wanted with this room. Her parents' house had always been her home, her sanctuary, but now that she was moving out, she regretted not decorating more when she had a chance. Looking back, it just seemed like a waste. She could have been a <em>little <em>wild, and let her rebellious side show. But she had always been so uptight, keeping to the rules and knowing, well, _everything_. She liked how she grew up and was comfortable with who she was, but she still wished she had let herself be a little more free.

Sighing, she lifted the large, brown suitcase off of her bed and onto the floor, the _thump _muffled by the off-white carpet that covered the floor of the bedroom.

"Sweetie, you ready to go?" Her mother asked, popping her head into the room. "The boys will worry if you don't get there soon."

Harry and Ron had promised to meet her at her new apartment in London and help her move in. It had originally been Harry's idea for her to move out and get the place, claiming he had "just the right little apartment". She had been intrigued and readily accepted his offer to visit the place and take a look. Once she had gotten there, she knew that it was perfectly suited to her. It was a two bedroom apartment, with a decent sized bathroom and a rather large kitchen. There were multiple windows in every room, making the apartment more airy and free. The walls were smooth and white, sharply contrasting to the darkly stained hardwood floor. Hermione's doubts about moving away from her parents were erased, and she had rented the place with the promise to move in by the end of the week. The place would be hers for five months, she could renew the rent then if she chose.

That had been last Saturday. It was now Friday afternoon. Turning her thoughts back to her mom in the doorway, Hermione smiled.

"I know. It's just so weird, to be leaving this place. After coming back from Australia, you guys moved right back in here, and you guys must still be feeling like this is a new house, but it's always been my home. It's just going to be so different." She looked at her mother nervously. "It's all so new."

Jean Granger smiled and crossed the room, pulling her daughter in for a hug. "Now, darling, you are a beautiful and intelligent girl, and a very talented and accomplished witch. You'll be fine. This can't be scarier than facing No-Nose-Whodda-What-y." Hermione laughed and pulled out of the hug.

"I guess." Jean looked at the young woman in front of her.

"That's right. Now, hurry! The boys will worry, and you know how Ronald gets when he gets impatient."

"Okay, okay! Going! I love you Mom! Oh, Ginny and Harry should be over in an hour or so to pack up the rest of the furniture here. Ron said Molly -his mom, you know- had a roomful of spare furniture hidden somewhere at the Burrow, so I should be busy getting that in while Harry and Gin pack up my room. Stop by sometime, ok?"

"Ok, I will. I love you, too!"

Hermione took in her bedroom one last time, before picking up her suitcase and apparating with a loud _crack _to land in front of a small apartment complex.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, how do you like the first chapter? Many more to come! Review! :)<strong>


	2. Getting Settled

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Not sure where the plot will go... Reactions? What do you think should happen? Read and Review!**

* * *

><p>She was standing on the second floor of the small Wizarding apartment complex. On the corner of a one-way road and a busy street which connected to many stores and shops, the little place was owned by Seamus' girlfriend's mother. A wooden fence encircled the property. There was a little Japanese garden in the empty part of the 'U' shaped building, which had a multiple pathways going through it: one to a gate that lead to the one-way street, one that lead to the parking area behind the building (and also passed by a few doors, making it doubly functional), and one that passed by a few more doors on the ground floor before leading to a set of concrete concrete stairs went diagonally up the building, then lead up to a patio-like area, with three doors opening onto it. There was a roof above this conjoining area that kept the rain off, but a person could easily watch the sunset from there, as the only thing that separated the floor and the 30-foot drop was a waist-high iron fence. Hermione's door was the one farthest to the left, and painted a rich red mahogany. She dropped her suitcase to give the people waiting outside her apartment hugs.<p>

"Hermione!" Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley returned her hugs with excitement.

She pulled out of the embraces as Harry started talking. "I can't believe that you're finally moving out! It's been a full _year_ since we defeated Voldemort, were you planning on living with your parents until you died?" Harry rambled excitedly, "And take a look at this place! I'm so glad I found it for you, you can thank Seamus for the contacts. But seriously! No more parents' house! Oh yeah, Ron already got the furniture from Molly in your house, all you have to do is move it where you see fit! Isn't it an awesome place? I knew you would like it! I saw it and was all like—"

"Give her a minute, let her breathe, mate." Ron laughed. "I think he's a little excited that he's the one who gave you the idea to move in. Plus, now we won't have to take that damn muggle thing to get to your house. Thank god!"

Hermione laughed at her friends antics. "Thank you both, really. You mean a bus, Ron?" He nodded. "And I don't mean to be impatient, but can I actually go _inside _my new apartment?" She finished with a gesture at her still-closed door.

Ron and Harry blushed pink. "Sorry, mate!"

"Yeah, sorry, here! These are for you."

Hermione accepted her new key with a smile. Quickly putting it in the keyhole, she turned it and opened her door.

"Ta-da! Welcome toooo…. Hermione Granger's new home!" Harry sounded behind her.

The door opened on a modestly sized living room, which connected to an alcove just right for a dining room table, and a large kitchen. The opening of the hallway could be seen from the door, although not what it was connected to. From her previous visit, Hermione knew it lead to the bathroom and to two smaller rooms which she would turn into her bedroom and study.

When she had last seen it, it was bare of furniture. Now, thanks to Ron and his mom, there was a couch, a coffee table, a rug, and a dining room table.

Hermione rolled her suitcase in behind her, a huge smile on her face as she walked through the threshold of her new home.

"Wow, guys, thank you! You guys did great! Remind me to tell Molly that I absolutely adore this furniture! Are you sure it wasn't too much of a hassle?" Hermione exclaimed as she caught sight of the items moved in hours previously.

"Not at all. You can ask her yourself, though, she said she would drop by after you got settled in a little." Ron replied. Hermione smiled at Molly's mothering ways.

"That's so her, Ron. Sometimes I wonder how you managed to move out without her kidnapping you and dragging you back." Hermione giggled at the mental image of a tall and muscular Ron being dragged out of his house by an angry barely-5'3 witch.

"She tried!" Ron protested. "Took her long enough to give up too, it's been a good 10 months since I moved out and she still pops over to make sure I've eaten."

Their laughs were interrupted by Harry's wand vibrating. "That would be Ginny, making sure I remembered to meet her at your Mom's house, Hermione. I'd better go, be back soon!"

Hermione smiled in thanks. "See you!"

As the echo of Harry's apparation died away, Hermione took in a breath. This was all hers! She could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She could come back drunk, or… even have _man_ over! She almost giggled at herself for the images that came into her head.

"So…"

Her thoughts were brought back to the red-haired man presently in her house, there for very different reasons then the men in her thoughts.

Her and Ron had huge crushes on each other throughout their Hogwarts education. They had kissed during the Final Battle, and after it was won, they were almost instantly considered a couple. _The Daily Prophet _had published story after story about how they were "a match made in heaven" and "perfectly suited for one another". Hermione had liked that, at first. But about a month in, Ron asked her to move in with him. It wasn't much different than sharing a tent, or constantly being with each other at Hogwarts, it was, however, a huge step in their relationship. Hermione had just begun to really live, free of having to save the world. She wasn't ready to move in and settle down so quickly. She and Ron fought about this time and time agagin, until she couldn't see herself living with him, well, _ever. _They broke up. After that, they got some space from each other. After a few weeks, though, they went back to being friends.

That had only been a few months ago, and while they were both over it for the most part, they hadn't been alone much since then. Ron was standing there awkwardly. She studied the floor, trying to think up something they could both do to not make it so awkward. Oh!

"Could you help me transfigure the thingy over here," she gestured to the power socket on the wall opposite the couch, "into a fireplace? It'd be nice to be able to get here via Floo."

Ron's demeanor changed instantly, glad for something to do to get him out of that awkward situation. He pulled out his wand quickly and started to cast the necessary spells.

* * *

><p>When Harry and Ginny returned with the rest of Hermione's belongings, Ron was finishing setting up the Floo while Hermione was working on customizing the wards.<p>

"Hey, we're here!" Ginerva Weasley called, opening the door and levitating Hermione's wardrobe. "Nice place!"

Hermione smiled at her best friend. "Thanks, Gin. Put it in my bedroom? It's the room at the end of the hall, to the left." Ginny nodded, walking down the hallway to Hermione's room. Harry was close behind her, bringing up objects and directing them to where Hermione dictated.

A few hours later, Hermione's new house was complete. There was a pot of coffee on the stove, and the four young men and woman were engaged in a rather tired discussion of Kingsley Shacklebolt's decisions as Minister of Magic. Within a few minutes, they all Flooed home, giving the happy new owner time to adjust and settle in completely.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you for reading, review! Also, I think Hermione has quite a surprise coming soon, in the form of a sexy Slytherin!<strong>


	3. An Announcement or Two

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, I was on vacation for Thanksgiving with my friend's family. Hope you like it! Questions? Comments? Concerns? Predictions? Opinions? Review! :) Thanks for reading!**_  
><em>

* * *

><p>The next morning, Hermione woke up to loud knocking on her front door. She got out of her bed, shivering as the cold air touched her body, and promptly tripped over a box.<p>

"_Bloody hell!"_ she hissed, picking herself off the floor and rubbing her sore toe gently. The knocking, which had paused for a minute, sounded again. "What could they _possibly_ want at this hour!" she muttered grumpily to herself. She glanced at the clock, preparing to give whoever it was a long lecture about disturbing people early in the morning. "Eleven? How did I sleep in so late?"

The knocking came again, impatiently. She realized it was quite rude to keep a person waiting at the door so long, and ran quickly to answer it.

"Yes?" She opened her door, a polite smile on her face. "Sorry to make you wait, I—_Malfoy?"_

"_Granger?" _ The blonde man standing in her doorway was clearly in shock. He had grown a little since Hogwarts, he was about 6'1 now, with a lean muscular figure. The latter was very clearly showed off by his tight white tank top and brown shorts. His grey eyes had more blue specks than they had before, they almost seemed… _kinder. _He'd lost his aura of "stuck up rich prick who had everything handed to him on a platter" and instead radiated with the aura of an independent, _sexy,_ young man.

Hermione gaped for a minute. What was he doing here? And was he holding …_cookies?_ "What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" He didn't look threatening, but she wished she had her wand on her.

His shocked looked was rapidly fading, replaced by the face of her tormentor back at Hogwarts. "Well, Granger, I heard that there was a new neighbor to welcome. Mrs. Finnigan said 'pretty young lady', but now I see that she clearly meant 'ugly, buck-toothed know-it-all with terrible hair'."

Hermione sighed. "Go away, ferret boy." She didn't want to put up with this right now. Then what he said registered. "_Neighbor?"_

"Yes, Granger, we now live in the same building together. Unfortunately, you will have to find a new place to live now, because I am situated here quite well." His hands moved up in an "oh well" gesture, his plate of cookies still seeming quite comfortably balanced in the palm of one hand.

"No! I am not moving out of _my _apartment! And," she continued, a glint in her eye, "I was unaware that Malfoys became housewives and brought over cookies as a 'welcome to the neighborhood' present!"

His pale white skin tinted with pink. "Fuck you, Granger. Move out. This is _my_ apartment place. _Mine. _And Mrs. Finnigan wanted me to give this to you, bloody old woman." Handing her a small white envelope, he walked away. Hermione watched his from her doorway as he disappeared into the door right across the patio from hers.

"Well. Fuck." She muttered to herself as she closed the door. "This should be interesting."

* * *

><p>It was 12:30 when she walked to her little dining room table with her coffee in one hand and the invitation in the other. Sitting gently in the chair, so as not to disturb her drink, she carefully set the coffee down and started to open the invitation. It was one of those invitations you could buy in packs of 15, and you just wrote in the details.<p>

**_You are invited!_**

**_To:_** A Block Party

**_Where:_** Cordoza Street

**_When:_ **December 3rd, 8a.m.-8p.m. kids; 8p.m.-11p.m. adults

_**Rsvp:**_ Send this letter back to the return address with appropriate answer circled!

** Yes N****o**

Taking a sip of her coffee, she thought it over. It'd be a good chance to meet new people, she could see who she was living nearby to , and it sounded like there would be drinks and possibly some cute boys towards the later part of the evening. Making a decision, she used her wand to mark the box labeled "Yes", then addressed and sent the envelope.

An hour later, she gathered up her things and headed to the library. She was out of school, so she had no need for research, but she liked the read at the library anyway. It was fun, and it gave her something to do. Neither she, Harry, nor Ron actually needed jobs; the Ministry had rewarded them heavily in Galleons. However, both Ron and Harry had wanted to fight crime, and had become Aurors. Hermione hadn't found anything she liked to do yet. She could've been an Auror like the boys, or a Professor like Neville, but she just didn't want to do that with her life. She had lived with battle and constantly watching her back for most of her childhood. She knew what needed to be done and could do it. But she didn't want that to be her life. She could have been a professor in really anything at Hogwarts, and one day maybe she would be, but she was young. She wanted to do something fun, to _live. _She just hadn't found out how yet.

Settling into her favorite cushy chair right by the _Fiction _section, she sat down to read one of her old favorites, _Alanna_ by Tamora Pierce.

* * *

><p>"Ginny!" Hermione stepped out of the fireplace, calling her best friend's name. When Ginny had called earlier in the afternoon, she had sounded really excited. She had told Hermione to come over at seven for dinner, and that she had something to tell her.<p>

"Ginny! Where are you?" Hermione waited a minute for a response, then began to slowly walk around. "Ginny?" She called again. The name echoed around the seemingly empty house. She suddenly heard a muffled thump and some laughing and cursing. A door at the end of the hallway flew open, and Ginny and Harry walked out, their clothes rumpled and hair sticking out at all sorts of odd ends.

"Hey 'Mione!" Ginny chirped, not really caring that her best friend had walked in on her and her boyfriend making out.

"Hey Hermione." Harry said weakly, quite embarrassed.

Hermione giggled. "Hey Gin, hi Harry." She walked forward and gave the both hugs. "You guys, uh, having some fun there?"

The young couple blushed. "Oh hell with it. Hermione, guess whaaat?" Ginny started, a huge smile on her face, "WE'RE ENGAGED!" She threw up a hand with a huge diamond ring glistening proudly on the ring finger.

Hermione gasped, then giggled, hugging the girl ecstatically and squealing. "Oh sweet Merlin, Ginny! You're going to be a wife! Oh Merlin! That is such a beautiful ring! How'd he propose? Have you started planning the wedding? Who are your bridesmaids? You're getting married!"

"I know, I know! It's amazing! Everything's amazing! He cooked a really fancy dinner then knelt down on one knee and asked! It was so sweet! Nothing's planned yet, but… Merlin, Hermione, I'm getting married!"

Over the next few hours the three ate and talked. Around 10, Harry left to meet Ron at the Hog's Head and tell him the news. The girls stayed up until well past midnight, drinking wine and talking about their lives and futures. By one in the morning, both girls were drunk and Harry had called to say that he and Ron were hitting the town and not to expect him until morning.

"Oh, guess who moved into my building?" Giggle.

"Who?" Giggle.

"Draco _Malhoy._" Giggle.

"Malhoy? Hee is _reeeally _hot!" Giggle.

"Yeah... He's still a prick, but he seems different. More, grown up. Kinda cool. Really sexy."

"Hermione, darrling, he was _not_ called the slytherin sex god for nothing."

"I know. Believe me, I know." Giggle. "But really, he's hot."

"Haha yeah."

"Gin, how did you know Harry was the one?"

"The one what?"

"The _one_ one."

"The one one what?"

"The—nevermind."

"Okay."

They sat in a comfortable, drunk silence. Ginny cast a spell to turn out the lights, missing and breaking a portrait of her parents holding hands. "Oopsies!" she giggled.

"Ginnyyy!" Hermione was accurate even when intoxicated. With a quick swoop of her wand, she turned off the lights.

When Harry came home the next morning, he found his fiancé and his best friend passed out on the floor of his living room, laying on top of a giant pile of pillows. Discarded glasses were all over the table, three empty bottles of wine were laying on their side half-in and half-out from under the pillow pile, and a broken picture frame was lying shattered on the ground.

He sighed, and set about fixing the mess before the girls woke

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Aw, I like the sweet side of Harry! How did you guys like Draco's entrance? He only gets sexier from here! Erm, I meant "it" only gets"better" from here. Yeah ;). Anyway, questions? Comments? Concerns? Opinions? Predictions? Review! :)<strong>


	4. Ruffled

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long, been having lots of life issues. Review if you want another chapter! :) Hope you like it.**

* * *

><p>Draco Malfoy often found himself in places he really did not want to be. When he was a child, he was always forced to stay at home and be "educated on the manners one should have as a pure-blood". When he was slightly older, he was constantly being locked in his bedroom for "causing trouble". When he came to Hogwarts, he thought he was finally able to escape his father's inspection and criticism, but then the Golden Trio showed up and flushed his new start down the toilet. He was soon devoting most of his time to being better than Potter, being more connected than Weasley, and smarter than Granger just to make his father keep his opinions of his only son to himself. Then the whole mess with the Dark Lord, well, that was another place he really didn't want to be. So he had grown up and done his best to move on. It had been going quite well: he saw his family only when required to, and had been able to keep where he loved a secret. Not that, if pressed, Lucius couldn't find him, but he suspected the man really just didn't care. But now he found himself in another place he would rather not be in.<p>

* * *

><p>Standing in front of Hermione Granger with a plate of cookies.<p>

It had started out fine. Mrs. Finnigan said a new girl about his age had moved into the apartment one door over, and in the way older people have of trying to set younger people up with one another, to go see if he couldn't woo her, and maybe invite her to the block party this Saturday.

So he had employed the tactic he'd often used: calling Blaise to see if the man didn't have some recipe sitting around his house that would woo a girl. Blaise was a fantastic baker, and loved any and all things to do with baking. So when 3 hours had passed and Draco nearly had an orgasm with the cookies he had just pulled out of the oven, he ruefully put them on a plate and went to knock on the door.

There was a thud, some muffled cursing and grumbling, and the door was opened by a really, really attractive girl. Her toenails were painted light pink, and she had long, pale legs which were just barely covered by shorts loudly proclaiming _Gryffindor _on the butt. The tight tank top over her clearly bra-less breasts made the blood rush somewhere else.

"_Malfoy?"_

Looking at her face for the first time, he realized that the girl he had just been oogling was actually Hermione Granger. Granger, who he'd worked so hard to beat. Granger, the only one of the trio who in his mind he had still not beaten. Granger, who he'd annoyed in third year to the point of her punching him because he had a crush on her. Granger, who-

"_Granger?"_

"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" she said wearily, eyes alert and searching.

This, at least, was familiar. He would put on his patented "Golden Trio" face and they would exchange insults, mostly mild ones, until one tired and left. "Well, Granger, I heard that there was a new neighbor to welcome. Mrs. Finnigan said 'pretty young lady', but now I see that she clearly meant 'ugly, buck-toothed know-it-all with terrible hair'." He finished with a smirk.

"Go away, ferret boy." She sighed out, apparently bored already. This would be a short one, then. Her pale features took on a new emotion. "_Neighbor?"_

"Yes, Granger, we now live in the same building together. Unfortunately, you will have to find a new place to live now, because I am situated here quite well." Something was bound to interrupt his quiet life with them living so closely together, and this was one of the few places his father wouldn't think to look for him. He shrugged, enjoying her look of incredulity at his statement.

"No! I am not moving out of _my _apartment! And," she paused for emphasis,"I was unaware that Malfoys became housewives and brought over cookies as a 'welcome to the neighborhood' present!"

_Aw, really? You had to go for the cookies. Really? Bet you'd like to eat them, but now you can't. Have fun missing out on those feelings of pleasure._

That was enough. "Fuck you, Granger. Move out. This is _my_ apartment place. _Mine. _And Mrs. Finnigan wanted me to give this to you, bloody old woman." He thrust the envelope at her. Then, taking his Heaven On A Plate, he walked back into his apartment.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: How'd you like it? Reviews necessary for another chapter. Will probably be starting some other stories soon... Keep an eye out! <strong>


	5. Closer

**Author's Note: This one's a little longer, please review, 'cause I have some doubts about it.**

* * *

><p>When Saturday night rolled around, it found Hermione looking… different. She had given herself a bit of a makeover when school ended, found herself wearing more makeup and dressing a little differently. But tonight every inch of her had been gone over by Ginny, and even she had to admit that she looked stunning.<p>

"Gin, it looks good, really, but who wears skirts this short?" Hermione pulled on the denim and wiggled a little to see if it would go down an inch or two.

"I do, miss legs-of-crazy-jealousy-inducing-perfection. You'll get usd to it soon. Not to mention you can get Malfoy all hot and bothered if he decides to show up," Ginny saiad with an evil grin, handing Hermione the lip gloss.

"Fine. But when my butt starts showing in a really unattractive manner, it'll be your fault."

Hermione was wearing a light pink tank-top that hugged her breasts then hung loosely over her curves. Paired with a necklace, Ginny's denim skirt, and some black heels, she was ready to go.

Ginny said earlier that she wanted to see what the kid's portion of the party was, seeing as she and Harry were engaged.

"We've talked about kids, and joked, but I don't know how serious he actually is. I mean, I want a few kids before I get old. Definetely not more than three or four, but more than one. And since I don't want to scare him or make him think that we have to get started on this before the wedding, I want to go scope out what having kids is like. Especially in the Muggle world. God, can you imagine if we didn't have self-changing diapers? Or refilling bottles? God, why Muggles even reproduce is a mystery to me."

Hermione listened to this with half an ear. They were about a block away from the party, walking towards it, and she couldn't help but think whether or not Draco was going to be there.

_Wait, Draco? Malfoy. Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy. Ferret Boy. Arrogant Arse. _

_Crap._

"-but I don't know how much say I'm going to get in the names, I mean knowing Harry he'll probably go straight past something like Robert or Joe and name out children things like Snape and Moody and Albus- God, imagine naming your kid Albus! Hermione, are you even _listening_ to me?"

"Huh? Yeah. Albus is good."

"Uh-huh. What's wrong?" Ginny dropped her spiel to attend to whatever was clearly bothering Hermione.

"Nothing."

"Nothing my ass."

"Gin, look, it's nothing, ok?"

"Hermione, _what?_"

"Ugh, nevermind. Drop it, ok?" How in the name of Merlin to you explain to your best friend that you just thought of someone you'd hated for years by their first name?

Draco had been her third crush. It was in second year, after liking Harry for most of first year and Ron for the rest an the first part of their second year, she had like Draco. It was one of those crushes that you went 'what were you _possibly_ thinking?' and then justified it to yourself perfectly by replaying his smile or that time when you both already knew the lesson so you spent class playing little games. Hermione never told anyone about it. It was her secret, and it would just bring up a lot of complications she didn't need, especially since it was irrelevant.

"Fine. Oh, damn, looks like I'm too late, all the kids are already leaving. Wanna grab a drink and walk around a bit?"

"Sounds great. Plus, two pairs of eyes looking for eye-candy is better than one."

"Amen to that, sister."

They ordered light drinks at the little bar booth set up in the middle of the street, then walked around a bit. There was a kissing booth, a drinking contest, ring toss, some game where you tried to get a ball in a hoop, and a booth where you guessed how many jelly beans were in a jar, which is where they were at now. It was a small Muggle party thing, but both Ginny and Hermione were having fun and Ginny was feeling exotic for being in the Muggle world.

"Hermione, why are those even called Jelly Beans? I mean, a bean is hard and jelly is soft. It doesn't make any sense!"

"Haha, Ginny, those are like Wizarding Every-Flavor beans, just Muggle-fied. Except they dot have any super gross ones, except maybe vomit."

"Ew!"

They put their guesses in the box and took their time going to each and every booth. By the time they had returned to the bar, they were laughing and congratulating themselves on the number of guys that had checked them out. The booth was slightly longer than the others to allow for some bar stools to be set out. They sat themselves on two of the four, and ordered themselves another drink. In the pause between ordering and receiving the drinks, Hermione looked over at the other two people occupying the two seats next to her. A cute little brown haired girl that sort of reminded Hermione of her cousin, and a blonde man… Draco.

_Malfoy, Hermione. Malfoy._

"Oh, fuck you."

"Who?"

"Malfoy."

"Oh." Ginny looked past Hermione and took in the sight of Malfoy flirting hard with the girl. "Shit."

Draco paused his laughter and met their eyes.

_How are anyone's eyes so gray? _She wondered, then cursed herself for thinking it.

They engaged in a stare down, unnoticed by both Ginny and the girl Draco was flirting with.

Suddenly something of Ginny's started vibrating.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, that's probably Harry. He wants me home early, I have work tomorrow. Cute of him, isn't it? Anyway, I should go… Can I leave you to pick up guys and handle Malfoy? Or do you want me to stay and possibly beat him up."

Hermione grinned at her friend, then grimanced when she thought about her alone and Malfoy being all coupled up with that girl. "You can go, Gin, I won't keep Harry waiting. I bet you have some _plans_ tonight, anyway." Hermione winked at her friend, then gave her a hug goodbye.

"Oo-kay, time to get serious here." She sighed and drank the rest of Ginny's leftover drink, forgetting that Ginny always magically made her drinks at least three times more potent than they were made to be, and set about attracting guys.

Five guys and two drinks later, Hermione was drunk tipsy and quite tired. "Fuck me," she groaned, knowing she was going to have a hangover the next day.

"With pleasure," sounded a voice behind her. She instantly recognized the voice.

"Hello, Dra- Malfoy. Fancy seeing you here."

"And you. Didn't your mother ever teach you it was impolite to flirt with so many boys in front of other boys, Granger."

"That really doesn't make much sense, Malfoy."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Uh huh."

There was an awkward pause.

"Look, I really should be getting home…"

"Me too, and I would never make a lady walk home on her own," He said, bowing and offering his hand. It was almost charming, until he tripped. They both laughed, and Hermione clumsily accepted the offered hand. They swerved around other people and between the booths, drunkenly laughing when they crashed or stumbled. Eventually they reached the end of the block and set back to their apartment building.

"So, how did you end up here? In this place, in this town, in the Muggle world. It's never something I pictured you ever doing."

He chuckled grimly. "I graduated and hid. It's hard to stay in a world where everyone hates you."

Hermione would probably have been surprised with the abrupt frankness and honesty he was giving her, if she was sober. As it was, she simply wanted to comfort a man who was clearly in pain.

"Aw, Draco, not everyone hates you."

He looked sharply at her, alert even when he was drunk.

"Yes, they do, _Granger_." He laughed mirthlessly. "You really can't be one to talk. You've hated me, what, since you've met me?"

"Not true!" She said indignantly, then giggled. "Promise not to tell anyone this?"

He smiled, intruiged. "Yes."

"I haven't hated you ever since I met you. I didn't know you well enough to really hate you, then I actually _had a crush on you_ in second year, and _then_ I started hating you!" Well, if he was being frank, she might as well, too.

He laughed, actually laughed for the first time in all the years she'd known him. It was a glorious sound, and reached the rooftops with it's pure joyous sound. "Really?" He asked when the noise had ceased to echo down the empty street. "Me too."

Hermione actually stopped in shock. "_What?_"

He turned back around to look at her. "Me, too." He repeated as if she were dumb. "I was just expected to hate you and tease you. I mean, I never really believed the stuff my father said. But I would rather tease some people than get Crucio'd," He smiled wryly. "I liked you in third year. Punching me in the face was an unpleasant surprise under those circumstances, to say the least."

Hermione started walking again, grinning. "I have no regrets, you arse, you deserved it."

Draco laughed a little. "Yes, I do believe I did."

Hermione felt the drinks she had consumed earlier fog her brain, and she turned to Draco. He was so sweet opening up to her like that.

"Hey, Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"C'mere for a second?"

He turned towards her.

"What?"

Hermione took a final step closer and leaned in closely to his face, then paused about half an inch away. She wasn't looking in his eyes so much as studying his face.

"Uh, Granger, what are you doing?"

"Making sure Ron isn't under a mask or something. 'Cause, if this is you, you are being way too nice. I don't get it."

He chuckled, blowing hot air into Hermione's face. "Who's to say I'm not always this nice?"

Niether had moved away. Suddenly, Hermione was nervous. Draco glanced at her lips. She glanced at his. They both stared at eachother, absorbing the swirling colors of the other's eyes. Hemione stepped away, and coughed.

"Um, anyway. So, what have you been doing since school?"

Draco cursed internally. He wasn't lying, he did have a crush on her in third year. What he didn't mention was the fact that ever since then, he had steadily been trying to _not _like her, and it still wasn't working. No matter how much sex he had, or how many times he called her names, or how many times he had received neames back at him, he had never stopped liking her. When it had been two years since he had seen her last, he had thought he was going crazy. But now she appeared again, and all the old feelings came right back, stronger than ever. And he had had her just where he wanted her, and she had remembered he was a Malfoy and ran away.

Fuck his stupid surname.

He made his voice sound unattached. "Well, I spent a few weeks in Azkaban. Even with Potter saying I wasn't a death eater, didn't make anyone less anxious to make me pay for anything I'd ever done or was suspected of doing but didn't. So after that I was on parol for a while, and read and cooked a lot. Then about a year ago I was released from parole and got myself an apartment in the Muggle world. Hiding from everything, is what my therapist phrases it as. And I'm still rich as fuck, so I really have no need to work. That's pretty much my last two years in a nutshell… What about you?"

Hermione felt the corners of her mouth turn down in a frown. "Draco, that's awful."

"Then don't think about it. What about you, what have you been up to?" He clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, I dated Ron for a while, but eventually broke up with him. I spent some time just trying to get back to normal, after the whole your aunt tortueing me and trying to kill me thing, and spent some time in intensive therapy. Then I became a librarian for a while, but they didn't treat me like a normal person and the press would always follow me around. So, I quit. I've basicly just moved out of my parents house and into this ew apartment, and hanging out with Ginny, Harry, and Ron."

They had reached the gate that surrounded the apartment, and they stumbled up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: How'd you like it? Please review! It makes me love writing even more when it's acknowledged <strong>


	6. Milk and Cookies

**Author's Note: So, another chapter for your reading pleasure. For those of you who don't know what Lifetime is, it's a TV channel that has a lot of teen drama shows and movies. Lifetime movies are famous (at least around here) for being a girl's best friend when they get dumped, or for women going through a midlife crisis. They basically all have the single plot line of girl with family/social troubles, something dramatic happens, she struggles through and triumphs. **

**Anyway, let me know what you think, review!**

* * *

><p>Draco let himself into his apartment and closed the door. <em>Bloody Granger. Obviously she would show up now and mess up my life. <em>He thought, and snorted. _I bet she does it just for kicks. _He peeked out his window, watching her stumble through her doorway and close the door. She was definetly way more drunk than he was, he mused, walking into his kitchen. He grabbed a potion, his own creation, that would erase all the side effects of being mildly sloshed. He threw it back in one gulp, his face screwing at the taste. What he owuldn't do to make that _not_ taste like bat shit. He put the bottle in the sink, and moved over to fall into his sofa. He found the remote to the Muggle box, and flipped though the guide, finding his favorite channel. He thought the shows were a little on the girly side, but the movies they played were very dramatic and heart-wrenching. He rarely went a day without watching one of those movies, and now Blaise had shown him that he could record them, they were a steady presence in his apartment. He especially like the channel's name: Lifetime.

He had no idea what to do for the rest of the night. Sleep was something he could do, he supposed, but he really wasn't in the mood for sleeping. He opted to just sit in front of the TV and do nothing: something quite unfamiliar to him. He always tried to be active; if not doing something, planning something. But right now all he was gong to do was sit. And replay that part of the night where Hermione had looked as though she wanted to kiss him.

He was twenty whole minutes into his sitting and analyzing when there was a knock at his door. He growled momentarily, then paused the TV and went to see who it was. Pansy stood there, holding a bag of cookies and some milk.

"Hello, Drake." She smiled, holding the food out as an offering. "May I come in?"

Pansy was his best friend. Her and Blaise were what kept him sane and grounded and altogether human. They knew everything about him, and he knew everything about both of them. With the exception of one or two things: they were Slytherin, after all. But Pansy dropping by past the usual visiting hours was rare. She was a relatively open-minded person, but she had been raised by purebloods and their strict manners. She always abided by those rules, even if it meant that her apartment always had to be cleaner than everyone else's, or that she dressed and acted for pride rahter than comfort most of the time. Pansy dropping by with cookies at this hour was like an I-killed-your-favorite-pet-then-dismembered-and-ate-it-sorry.

Draco glared at her, annoyed at the fact that she had interrupted his thoughts and even further annoyed by the fact that she had done something bad and now wanted his forgiveness. "Whatever." He moved aside, and she set both of her packages down on his counter.

"What'd you do this time, Pansy? If you 'accidently' found the password to my Gringotts account and 'made the mistake' of thinking it was yours then emptying out over half of my savings in one day _again, _I swear they will not find your body."

"Draco! Of course that was an accident, and this isn't half as bad as that was!"

He shot her an unimpressed look. "I just went to a block party, got most of the way drunk, and ended up walking Hermione Granger home and almost _kissing _her. I still can't decide if I want what you're about to say to be worse than that or not."

"Of course it's not as bad as- _what?_" Pansy knew about his long-term crush on his bushy-haired classmate. She also knew that it was unlikely for those two to ever get around their past. "How in the name of Merlin's saggy- bloody hell Draco, what were you _thinking?_"

He glared at her. "If you must know, I was thinking that I've fancied her since I was _thirteen _and this was the most she'd ever talked to me in a civil manner. Is that really so bad?" Not that he doubted her answer, but still...

"Yes, Draco, yes! It is bad! What on earth are you going to do now?"

He rolled his eyes, using his wand to quickly lock his door, and made his way back to the couch. "I don't know, Pans. Can you pass me a cookie?" Pansy smirked a little and grabbed two cookies for them both, handing one off to Draco and sitting on the couch next to him.

"Damn, I sure hope your dad doesn't hear about this."

He shuddered. "Yeah, me too."

* * *

><p>Gregory Goyle sat on the bench, reviewing what he had just learned. Hermione had changed since Hogwarts. He would never have envisioned the Gryffindor Virgin Princess as the type to go out drinking with her friends. It was one of the reasons he had chosen this assignment, because it had seemed just so damn <em>easy<em>. But his job, apparently, would just keep on getting harder. Draco Malfoy, _Draco _of all people, had been drinking with her. _Talking _with her. When they had started walking home together, Greg had been ready to hex them both if they had gone into the same room. Which, in his mind then, had been the only ecplination for why they were both walking together. But he had just seen them, turning and walking into separate rooms. What a bonus! He had tracked down Draco Malfoy!

Theodore Nott had been hounding Lucius in his old age, trying to get the old man to tell them where Draco was. To use his recouses to track down Draco. But no, at the first sign of the resurrection of the Death Eaters, he had promptly disowned his son and stopped all contact. When they heard that part of it had to do with the fact that Draco was now against "these sorts of things", it simply went from "find Draco and let him know he can help rule the world" to "find Draco and let's have a good fight before we murder him as an example".

Gregory looked up at the top floor of the apartment building as if it would reveal all the answers. Why had they looked almost friendly walking up? There had been that moment when they had gotten so close. He thought they were going to kiss! Greg chuckled softly at his own stupidity, then quickly flipped his Muggle hood over his head when he heard someone coming.

Glancing at the sound of heels, he peered through his lashes. What was Pansy doing here at this hour? She walked up to Draco's apartment with her hands full of... cookies and milk? She knocked, and as he watched the door open he could hear faintly hear her say, "Hello, Drake," and something probably alone the lines of 'sorry' and 'can I come in?'. He pulled out his wand once the door shut, tapping it to his skull. Silvery liquid went from his head into a small bottle, the memories of the night successfully ready for transport.

The council would be pleased.


End file.
